[Posted Wed. a.m.Your editor has been multi-tasking this morning. Just had my annual physical and the liver is still good!And at the end of the day, boys and girls....]

College Hoops Quiz: I’m in a rush and just realized, gotta get something up.Accurate records for rebounds in all of Division I go back to 1985, in terms of career stats, so name the all-time rebounder since then. Current NBA player, seven seaons. Answer below.

Super Bowl: Final Wrap-up

Ben Shpigel / New York Times

“Philadelphia is a grand old city with a grand old football tradition defined not by trophies hoisted but the cocktail of emotions – nihilistic despair tinged with unfounded confidence – produced by its beloved Eagles coming so close, so many times.

“The last 57 years had passed without a championship. It was never Ron Jaworski’s turn or Randall Cunningham’s or Donovan McNabb’s.It was always something – always.

“The paradigm shifted Sunday, when a backup quarterback who nearly retired two years ago and who had not taken a snap with the first-team offense until two months ago gave Philadelphia its first Super Bowl title at the expense of the NFL’s enduring dynasty.

“For the rest of his life, Nick Foles will be hailed as the savior who matched a resplendent Tom Brady and authored a victory against the New England Patriots for Philadelphia’s first football championship since 1960.

“The final score – 41-33 – will lodge deep into the memory banks of a frenzied pro-Eagles crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium and the millions of delirious fans across the Delaware Valley, who will belt it out at work or family gatherings or watering holes as calculable proof that, yes, the Eagles did, in fact, win the Super Bowl.

“It was Philadelphia’s second major sports championship since 1983, after the Phillies’ World Series victory in 2008.The last time the Eagles earned an NFL championship, in the pre-Super Bowl era, they also conquered an iconic coach in Vince Lombardi and a Hall of Fame quarterback in Bart Starr, but that win came before Green Bay’s reign of dominance. In Brady and Bill Belichick, bidding for their sixth title together, these Eagles outdueled the NFL’s premier comeback artists to avenge a defeat from their last Super Bowl meeting 13 years ago.

“Before that game, Belichick inspired his players by relaying the victory parade route – of the Eagles. If Philadelphia has not been reduced to rubble, that parade will finally meander down Broad Street this week.”

As for owner Jeffrey Lurie and his hiring of Doug Pederson:

“Lurie knew Pederson not only as a brilliant offensive mind but as someone who taught Lurie’s son, Julian, how to throw a football, and who, from being pelted with batteries from impatient fans wishing McNabb to start as a rookie in 1999, had the requisite toughness to coach in Philadelphia.

“ ‘Wherever he was,’ Lurie said of Pederson last week, ‘he was always the most genuine person in the room.’

“Pederson also has a preternatural feel for optimizing his players. On Saturday night, he told his team that he had formulated an assertive game plan, with plenty of downfield throws and bold tactics.

“Teams tend to shrink against New England, especially when leading. The Eagles? No chance.”

Cody Benjamin / CBSSports.com

“Philadelphia knows about underdogs. There was Rocky, of course, who was an inspiration to the city but, still, purely fictional. There was Vince Papale, a nice walk-on story about going from the grandstands to the NFL field.

“On Sunday, Nick Foles outdid them all, leading the Eagles to their first championship since 1960 and their first Super Bowl title ever.

“A backup turned Super Bowl starter, Foles at one time put up the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history, and now he’s responsible for giving the city of Philadelphia its first Super Bowl win. With that accolade under his belt, it’s hard to imagine Sunday being his last game under center for the Philadelphia Eagles, but that could also be the case.

“The Eagles seemed destined for a long-awaited title run when their second-year phenom, Carson Wentz, took the team to nine straight wins and an 11-2 record before injuring his knee.And now here we are, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady dethroned by Foles.

“With the veteran backup becoming the first quarterback in Eagles history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, we’re still left with one burning question.

“What happens next?

“”First, it’s important to note that Wentz isn’t going anywhere. That’s absolutely the most sure thing about the situation.Listen, even with Foles actually lighting it up against the Patriots and bringing Philadelphia a title, he’s going to be adored by Eagles faithful forever, and rightfully so. His contributions look even better if you factor in his training-camp injury and that he really didn’t start fully practicing with the team’s starters until Week 15. But if you’ve already forgotten just how elite Wentz promised to be during his gigantic leap forward in 2017, well, the Eagles probably have not. If Foles can win a Super Bowl picking up where Wentz left off, in fact, who’s to say the Eagles won’t be doubly committed to their young signal-caller? Who’s to say their confidence won’t skyrocket knowing that, with Wentz healthy and returned to form, they might have a legitimate shot at chasing more Super Bowls?

“All of that is dependent on Wentz recovering from his torn ACL, but all indications are that he’s well on track for an Opening Day return in 2018. And as long as that’s the case, there is simply no way that Doug Pederson, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie will turn their back on the most dynamic franchise quarterback they’ve had since Donovan McNabb.”

But as for Foles, he’s under a two-year pact that will allow him to test free agency after 2018, though no doubt many teams will be inquiring as to Foles’ availability in a trade.

Meanwhile...Mark Cannizzaro / New York Post

“What’s probably most difficult for Brady to process is the fact that, for a change, he didn’t come through in the clutch.

“Put in his wheelhouse position in which he almost always prevails – a two-minute drill comeback situation – he was strip-sacked by Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham with 2:09 remaining in the game and lost the ball. Remarkably, with a combined 91 passes thrown by both Brady and Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, it was the only sack in the game.

“ ‘They made one good play at the right time,’ Brady said.”....

“ ‘I was looking for Tom after the game, but I didn’t get to see him because it got crazy real fast,’ said Foles, the game’s MVP.‘He’s one of the greatest of all time.The guy does it right. He was unbelievable tonight.’

“He was and he wasn’t, though. The statistics are slightly misleading.Brady missed receivers more often than he usually does in this game – despite the crazy video-game statistics he put up.”

Dan Graziano / ESPN.com

“Time was out, giving the players a rare chance to catch their breath in the middle of the most frantic Super Bowl of all time.Just 38 seconds remained in the first half, and the Philadelphia Eagles faced fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. They’ve all played for Doug Pederson long enough to know they were going for it, but as they guzzled their water bottles, rested their hands on their hips and looked left toward their sideline, they wondered just how cool a play Pederson might have in mindThey were not disappointed,.

“ ‘Philly Special’ was the call, and there were more than a few smiles in the huddle. The play calls for quarterback Nick Foles to move up to the line of scrimmage and basically act as if he’s checking his phone. It calls for a direct snap to running back Corey Clement, a pitch to tight end Trey Burton and a pass from Burton to Foles – assuming the New England Patriots had forgotten about Foles. Which they had, because who would think to cover him?

“Philly Special. A play that sounds as if it should come with cheese and...well...onions.

“ ‘You never know what he’s thinking,’ Burton said.‘Here we are.Philly’s never won a Super Bowl.We’re fourth-and-1 on the goal line and he calls a trick-play pass to the quarterback? Come on, man.’

“It worked, of course. Pretty much everything Pederson did Sunday night worked, which is pretty much why it’s no longer true that Philadelphia has never won a Super Bowl....

“ ‘I trust my players, I trust my coaches and I trust my instincts,’ Pederson said. ‘I trust everything I’m doing, and I want to maintain that aggressiveness. In games like this, against a great opponent, you have to make those tough decisions that way and keep yourself aggressive.’”

Philadelphia converted 10 of 16 third downs, and two of the other six on fourth down.[With 5:39 left in the game, Pederson went for it again on fourth-and-1 from his own 45-yard line and his team trailing for the first time all night. He had Foles throw to tight end Zach Ertz and he got 2 yards and the Eagles then controlled the ball for three more precious minutes between Foles hit Ertz for the go-ahead touchdown.[Then you had the strip-sack fumble by Brandon Graham.]

--Brady had a 115.4 passer rating and until Sunday, the Patriots had been 69-1 in starts when the rating was 115 or better, the lone loss at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Colts in Week 9 of 2005.[Neil Greenberg / Washington Post]

Yes, he had a postseason record 505 yards, but no sixth Lombardi Trophy.“Losing sucks,” Brady said afterwards.“You try to win and sometimes you lose. That’s the way it goes.”

As to whether he was returning for another season, in the immediate aftermath, Brady said: “I expect to be back. It’s 15 minutes after the game ended, so I would like to process this. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be back.”

Bill Belichick said: “In the end, we just couldn’t quite make enough plays, and that was all on me.”

“We weren’t able to perform at our best,” Belichick said. “Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job coaching, missed a lot of opportunities offensively in the first half, didn’t play good enough defense, didn’t play good enough in the kicking game.”

And Belichick’s trick play didn’t work when Tom Brady dropped a pass at the Eagles 28 from Danny Amendola. Then Doug Pederson’s worked.

--As for Belichick’s benching of cornerback Malcolm Butler, who only played on special teams Sunday, Belichick refused to get into specifics on Monday.

What he said on Sunday was that Butler’s benching wasn’t a disciplinary decision but rather a matter of putting the “players and game plan out there that we thought would be the best, like we always do.”

But Butler had played in 97.8 percent of the Patriots’ defensive snaps in the regular season, as reported by Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post.

And it does appear that Belichick was disciplining Butler in some form, as first noted by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, who described “a perfect storm” of issues including sickness and a minor rule violation.

NBC Sports Boston’s Mike Giardi reported that Butler violated his curfew at some point during the team’s stay in Minneapolis ahead of the game; Giardi, like Rapoport, calling the benching “multilayered” and saying it “was a culmination of a variety of things that have popped up with Malcolm over the course of this season and maybe even others in the past.”

Who knows what the reason was in the end, including perhaps that Belichick knew Butler would be leaving in free agency, but the Eagles feasted on his replacements, converting 6 of 7 third downs when targeting Eric Rowe and others.

Understandably, Patriots fans were not happy Monday.Belichick talks about putting the best players on the field and Butler was the best option, whether there was a discipline issue or not.

Fox’s Cris Carter said after that Belichick is “very, very dismissive to players, and it came back to haunt him.

“He thinks that no one is bigger than the team,” Carter said.“But in this case, the team as a whole suffered because of a decision that you made.”

For his part, Malcolm Butler responded Tuesday, saying he never missed curfew during Super Bowl week and that he never “participated [in] any of the ridiculous activities being reported,” including attending a Rick Ross concert.Butler said he’s heading into free agency.

--Rob Gronkowski said after the game he would not commit to playing again.‘I’ll sit down in the next couple of weeks and see where I’m at.”

No doubt that concussion he suffered on the head-to-head hit from Barry Church scared the heck out of him.I’ll say he doesn’t come back.He seems like the type who has taken care of his money responsibly. If so, why should he come back?[And to add insult to injury, his house was broken into.]

--If I’m a New England fan, I am waking up more and more pissed off that Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t on the roster...not that there was really any way to prevent his departure.But you know how Bill Belichick feels on this one.I’ll say both Belichick and Brady call it a career after next season.

--So then the stunner late Tuesday.Josh McDaniels, the Pats’ offensive coordinator who was set to become the new coach of the Indianapolis Colts, decided to stay in New England.

Gregg Doyel / USA TODAY

“Be embarrassed, Indianapolis Colts, but also be relieved. Josh McDaniels is a punk and a loser.

“He’s not your head coach, thank God.

“Imagine, knowing what we know right now, infecting this franchise with that fraud. And make no mistake. He’s one of the biggest frauds in the NFL.He confirmed it Tuesday night. After agreeing three weeks ago to terms with the Colts to become their next coach, after hiring multiple members of the coaching staff, after arranging to fly Wednesday morning from Boston to Indianapolis on Jim Irsay’s jet to be introduced at an afternoon news conference, Josh McDaniels backed out.

“McDaniels will stay with the New England Patriots as their offensive coordinator. Or maybe he knows something we don’t, and will be replacing Patriots boss Bill Beliichick....

“Imagine that. The ultimate daddy’s boy, born on third base and believing he hit a triple, thinks he’s too good to coach the Colts....

“He’s a guy who hasn’t accomplished anything as a head coach, unless you consider being fired in less than two seasons in Denver an achievement. Which, when you think about it.....

“The Colts just got punked by the biggest punk in the NFL coaching community; a guy so callous that he convinced a handful of assistant coaches elsewhere to leave wherever they were to come work for him in Indianapolis. Those assistants, including Dallas Cowboys assistant Matt Eberflus, now seem stuck.”

Reportedly, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, having been burned in the Jimmy Garoppolo deal, didn’t want to lose McDaniels and convinced him to back out; apparently to keep McDaniels in place for Belichick’s eventual departure.

Is Belichick retiring?Will he say next year is his last one? Then he’d give way to McDaniels.

--According to Nielsen, an audience of 103.4 million watched the Super Bowl, a 7% decline from last year.NBC put the total number at 106 million when streaming on digital platforms such as NFL.com, NFL Mobile, Yahoo Sports and NBC.com was added in.

This is the smallest audience since 2009 when 98.7 million watched SB XLIII on NBC (Pittsburgh-Arizona).

Interestingly, while the NFL can take zero solace in the fact the 7% decline was less than the regular-season drop of 10%, indeed the 7% is a sign of changing viewer habits...however, it’s interesting to note that there was only a 3% drop in big city markets measured by Nielsen, which tells you the NFL’s troubles are more significant in the country’s heartland, which is Trump territory (just stating a fact, friends...not making a political statement).

And at the same time, 103 million is still 103 million and by far the biggest audience of the year (as well as the tenth most watched TV broadcast in history) so there’s still a reason for some advertisers, though certainly not all, to shell out $5 million for a 30-second spot.

[111.9 million tuned in on CBS in 2016, 111.3 million on Fox last year.]

College Basketball

AP Poll (Feb. 5...records as of Feb. 4)

*This is as fascinating a late-season poll as I can ever remember.Can you imagine Saint Mary’s in a final four?

5 Xavier needed overtime to beat Butler (17-8, 7-5) 98-93 as Trevon Bluiett had 26 points, 6 of 9 from three, where he is shooting .436 for the season.Pretty darn good.

6 Cincinnati destroyed UCF (14-9, 5-6) 77-40.

NBA

--Tuesday goes down in Knicks history as one of the darkest days ever for the franchise as star Kristaps Porzingis tore his ACL and, the way these things go, he could be out until about next mid-season.Just a crushing blow that, given his fragility prior to this, calls into question what kind of player he’ll be when he returns.A sickening development for us fans hoping that maybe we are building the franchise the right way, despite this season’s struggles.

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“The roar was barely out of 19,812 mouths, a dot of delight in a darkening landscape.Kristaps Porzingis had just delivered a genuine poster-ization of Giannis Antetokounmpo, dunking over the Greek Freak. Man, did Madison Square Garden want to let loose there.

“And in an instant, in an eye blink: silence.

“Awful, grisly silence.

“ ‘It’s deflating,’ Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said, and that was before he knew of the awful diagnosis to come.‘Very deflating.’

“Porzingis was on the floor.He was pounding his fist when he wasn’t grabbing for his left knee.Earlier in the season, on the other end of the floor, Porzingis had nearly bent his ankle in half against the Heat, thrown a shivering scare into the Garden, missed a few games, admitted how scary it is to have your body betray you like that.

“This was different. This wasn’t the ankle. This was the knee, twisting in a way it wasn’t intended to twist....

“In that moment, the Garden felt the way Citi Field had felt on the afternoon of Aug. 24, when Michael Conforto had taken one of his textbook-beautiful lefty swings and wound up crumpling in agony, his shoulder capsule torn. Conforto had been the last reason to watch a lost Mets season; Porzingis was the only reason to watch these Knicks, especially as they crawl through another year clear of the playoffs.”

This is brutal.And now the team is keeping its fingers crossed that Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t reinjure his leg, having lost six weeks to a stress fracture in the same one earlier in the season.He too went out last night.

New York, 23-32, lost the game to Milwaukee (30-23) 103-89.

One more. Because of the probable timetable for Porzingis’ return, this means the team cannot realistically think about even next year’s playoffs. So it’s really planning for 2019-20!Ugh.

--Also in the NBA last night, Orlando stunned Cleveland 116-98, the Magic just 17-36, the Cavs falling to 30-22.

And in a biggie in Toronto, the Raptors (37-16) beat the Celtics (39-16) 111-91.

Stuff

--Big goings on in the Premier League. Chelsea is in turmoil after a 4-1 loss to Watford on Monday, the second straight defeat for the Blues as manager Antonio Conte is suddenly on the hot seat, Chelsea just one point ahead of Tottenham for the final Champions League slot with 12 matches to go.

And speaking of Tottenham, a lot of folks are decrying what they see as a pattern of cheating, best exemplified in Liverpool’s controversial draw with the Spurs over the weekend; Tottenham getting a number of calls when the referees were probably conned.

As John Aldridge writes in the Irish Independent: Tottenham “now have a reputation for being the biggest divers in the Premier League.”

--John Feinstein, writing in Golf World, noted that Rickie Fowler, who blew another 54-hole lead Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, lost for the fifth time in six tries when leading heading into the final round in a tour event.

Fowler still has just four PGA Tour victories, one being the Players Championship, and Feinstein believes it’s because he is simply too nice. And it’s true, there is no more likable guy than Fowler, and he’s been extremely successful off the course with advertisers.

But if he wants to be a Hall of Famer and win 15 events and a major or two, he needs to develop an edge, as Phil Mickelson did when he was a winner, but not a ‘major’ winner.

“Fowler is always the guy waiting behind the 18th green to congratulate his buddies after big wins. He was there for Jimmy Walker when he won the PGA at Baltusrol; he’s been there for Jordan Spieth at Birkdale and he (and Spieth) were there for Thomas at Quail Hollow. Fowler must be – should be – sick and tired of talking about how happy he is watching his friends walk off with major hardware.

“That’s not to say it isn’t great for golf that the 20-something stars genuinely get along and are a classy group.It’s worth remembering that Spieth, after missing the playoff by one shot at the Open at St. Andrews in 2015, came back to greet the three players going through the extra holes after he’d finished his post-round media visits.

“But there’s steel in Spieth, as he’s proved by winning three major championships and 11 times on tour before the age of 25. The same is true of Rory McIlroy, as kind a person as there is in the game, except when he smells a major victory.”

--William McGurn / Wall Street Journal...for you, Mark R.[ND alum]

“So it’s come to this: Leprechauns are hateful.

“Not just any leprechauns, mind you. This particular one – hat cocked, chin out, dukes up – happens to be the mascot for the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. The little, green-suited man is now in the same politically correct crosshairs that recently locked onto the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo. And ESPN’s Max Kellerman has called on Notre Dame to follow the Indians’ lead and send this leprechaun back to the end of the rainbow where he belongs.

“ ‘Many Irish-Americans are not offended, but many are,’ Mr. Kellerman said. ‘Should that also change? The answer is yes!Unequivocally yes. Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people that offend, even some among them, should be changed.’

“That’s some standard: The handful of offended trump the majority of unoffended.Notre Dame argues, correctly, that the leprechaun differs from Chief Wahoo and other Native American logos in a crucial way: The university is highlighting its own heritage rather than appropriating imagery from others.By embracing the Fighting Irish moniker, moreover, Notre Dame transformed an epithet into a source of pride. That’s why generations of Catholic immigrants struggling to find their place in America cheered every Notre Dame gridiron victory as their own.

“Old Chief Wahoo is perhaps America’s least woke sports mascot. In a deal struck under pressure from Major League Baseball, the Indians have now agreed the chief is too offensive to appear on the field.But he’s apparently not too offensive for the cash registers off the field, which will still ring with sales of Chief Wahoo merchandise.

“Often lost in this debate are two obvious points. First, mascots and logos are by definitioncaricatures, hence the exaggerations. Second, Native American names have been popular in sports because they are associated with a tough and martial spirit.In Cleveland’s case, Chief Wahoo has become as much a symbol of the city as of its ballclub. How many Clevelanders could identify their city flag?

“Even Jimmy Carter once recognized the silliness of these campaigns. During the 1991 World Series, Mr. Carter pushed back against criticism of the ‘tomahawk chop’ used by Braves fans.‘With the Braves on top, we have a brave, courageous and successful team, and I think we can look on the American Indians as brave, successful and attractive,’ the former president said. ‘So I don’t look on [the chop] as an insult.’

“Most Braves fans agreed, which speaks to another feature of modern cultural appropriation.Progressives often appropriate the indignation of communities to which they don’t in fact belong.Mr. Kellerman does not appear to be Irish. So to justify his call for a ban on leprechauns, he invoked the outrage of one Irish-American he happens to know, former ESPN colleague Brian Kenny....

“Perhaps this is what you do when the outrage isn’t really there. When the Washington Post polled Native Americans in 2016, it found 9 of 10 were not offended by the name of the city’s NFL franchise – the Redskins. The results did not vary much by age, income, education, politics or proximity to a reservation. And the results hadn’t changed much since a similar 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center....

“But in the case of Notre Dame, the more interesting question may be the one the ESPN analyst never asks.Each week on national TV, especially during football season, the Fighting Irish offer their own lesson in diversity.Instead of condemning a cartoon leprechaun, perhaps America ought to be applauding the healthy cultural appropriation that happens every time African-American, Asian-American and Latino athletes compete together wearing jerseys or helmets proudly proclaiming themselves ‘Irish.’”

--Last time we talked about Alex Trebek’s disgust at how the “Jeopardy” contestants couldn’t answer a single question on the topic of football.

Des Bieler of the Washington Post noted some of the other famous ‘sports’ category blunders on the show.

Like last September, a category called “NFL Teams by Hall of Famer” contained the clue, “Marcus Allen,” to which one contestant asked, “What is Colorado Rockies?”This was after no one rang in on “Mean Joe Greene.”

A 2014 contestant was given this clue in the “Sports Superstars” category: “100+ assists has been accomplished only 13 times in an NHL season, 11 times by this player.”He asked, “Who is Magic Johnson?”[The other two aside from Wayne Gretzky’s 11 are Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux, by the way.]

--We note the passing of British-born actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the sitcom “Frasier,” at the age of 77.

Mahoney had a distinguished career in Theatre, winning a Tony award, and a long list of TV and film credits, but he’ll always be remembered for his 11 seasons as Frasier and Niles Crane’s (Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce) blunt talking father.

From the BBC: “Mahoney was born in Blackpool, where his pregnant mother had been evacuated to escape Nazi bombing raids.

“He moved to the U.S. as a young man, serving in the U.S. army for three years, which he credits with eradicating his native British accent.”

He didn’t become a professional actor, though, until he was in his 40s.

--Trader George is lobbying hard for ‘Woodpecker’ on the All-Species List, noting their toughness.I just wonder about their intelligence after the study I noted last time.

Next week I am meeting with an expert down in Delaware as part of the ASL Board’s due diligence.

--I didn’t comment on Justin Timberlake’s performance last time, but if I had I wouldn’t have been complimentary.I like the guy a lot, mainly because he is a great ambassador for the sport of golf, but I know all of us watching had the same thought. God, the sound quality sucked! And despite all the dancing and myriad number of performers, it was just a lot of ‘nothing.’The whole time I kept thinking, Bruno Mars really should be the permanent halftime show.

Top 3 songs for the week of 2/8/64: #1 “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles)#2 “You Don’t Own Me” (Lesley Gore)#3 “Out Of Limits” (The Marketts)...and...#4 “Hey Little Cobra” (The Rip Chords...last swansong of groups like this) #5 “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um” (Major Lance...has held up well...) #6 “Surfin’ Bird” (The Trashmen...hasn’t....)#7 “She Loves You” (The Beatles)#8 “For You” (Ricky Nelson)#9 “Anyone Who Had A Heart” (Dionne Warwick)#10 “There! I’ve Said It Again” (Bobby Vinton...so it was the week of Jan. 25 that “I Want To Hold Your Hand” rocketed from No. 45 on the chart to No. 3... “There! I’ve Said It Again” was No. 1, and had been the prior three weeks as well.“I Want To Hold Your Hand” became No. 1 the next week as U.S. news networks, let alone radio, were starting to do stories on the Beatles and word got out they were playing Ed Sullivan Feb. 9.“I Want To Hold Your Hand” remained #1 until March 21, when it was replaced by “She Loves You”...that same week “Please Please Me” was #3...giving the Beatles the top three...the week of April 4, the Beatles held the top five spots on the chart!“Can’t Buy Me Love” was #1, “Twist And Shout” #2, followed by “She Loves You,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me”....staggering....)

College Hoops Quiz Answer: All-time rebounder in Division I since 1985 is Kenneth Faried of Morehead State. Since then he has been with the Denver Nuggets.Tim Duncan and Derrick Coleman are 2-3.But Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado entered the week No. 10 and he’ll be climbing up the rest of the way.

Mark R.’s Top 40...I gave him some liberties on one or two from the ‘80s.

1. Sitting on a Dock in the Bay...Otis Redding

2. I heard it Through the Grapevine...Marvin Gaye

3. American Pie...Don McLean

4. Sounds of Silence....Simon & Garfunkel

5. Brown Eyed Girl...Van Morrison

6. Cherish...Association [Has to do with M.R. and his wife, he tells me...but, hey, it’s a good song]

7. Yesterday...Beatles

8. Satisfaction...Rolling Stones

9. Respect...Aretha Franklin

10. Loving Feeling...Righteous Brothers

11. California Dreaming...Mamas & Papas

12. Fire & Rain...James Taylor

13. Piano Man...Billy Joel

14. In My life...Beatles

15. Bohemian Rhapsody...Queen

16. Smooth...Santana & Rob Thomas

17. Hard Headed Woman...Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam

18. In the Midnight Hour...Wilson Pickett

19.Build Me Up Buttercup...The Foundations

20 Light My Fire...Doors

21.Johnny B. Good...Chuck Berry

22.Hotel California...Eagles

23. Suspicious Minds...Elvis

24. Tambourine Man...The Byrds

25. Good Vibrations...Beach Boys

26. Maggie May...Rod Stewart

27.Reach Out...The Four Tops

28. Rock Around the Clock...Bill Haley & the Comets

29. Philadelphia Freedom...Elton John

30. Georgia...Ray Charles

31. Abraham Martin John...Dion

32. Operator...Jim Croce

33. You are the Sunshine... ...Stevie Wonder

34. Soul Man...Sam & Dave

35. Rhiannon...Fleetwood Mac

36. Billie Jean...Michael Jackson

37. How Deep is Your Love...Bee Gees

38. It's Too Late...Carol King

39. Can't Take My Eyes of You...Frankie Valli

40. Love Shack...B-52's ( Ask a DJ to play this at the next wedding, everyone gets up and dances)

[Posted Wed. a.m.Your editor has been multi-tasking this morning. Just had my annual physical and the liver is still good!And at the end of the day, boys and girls....]

College Hoops Quiz: I’m in a rush and just realized, gotta get something up.Accurate records for rebounds in all of Division I go back to 1985, in terms of career stats, so name the all-time rebounder since then. Current NBA player, seven seaons. Answer below.

Super Bowl: Final Wrap-up

Ben Shpigel / New York Times

“Philadelphia is a grand old city with a grand old football tradition defined not by trophies hoisted but the cocktail of emotions – nihilistic despair tinged with unfounded confidence – produced by its beloved Eagles coming so close, so many times.

“The last 57 years had passed without a championship. It was never Ron Jaworski’s turn or Randall Cunningham’s or Donovan McNabb’s.It was always something – always.

“The paradigm shifted Sunday, when a backup quarterback who nearly retired two years ago and who had not taken a snap with the first-team offense until two months ago gave Philadelphia its first Super Bowl title at the expense of the NFL’s enduring dynasty.

“For the rest of his life, Nick Foles will be hailed as the savior who matched a resplendent Tom Brady and authored a victory against the New England Patriots for Philadelphia’s first football championship since 1960.

“The final score – 41-33 – will lodge deep into the memory banks of a frenzied pro-Eagles crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium and the millions of delirious fans across the Delaware Valley, who will belt it out at work or family gatherings or watering holes as calculable proof that, yes, the Eagles did, in fact, win the Super Bowl.

“It was Philadelphia’s second major sports championship since 1983, after the Phillies’ World Series victory in 2008.The last time the Eagles earned an NFL championship, in the pre-Super Bowl era, they also conquered an iconic coach in Vince Lombardi and a Hall of Fame quarterback in Bart Starr, but that win came before Green Bay’s reign of dominance. In Brady and Bill Belichick, bidding for their sixth title together, these Eagles outdueled the NFL’s premier comeback artists to avenge a defeat from their last Super Bowl meeting 13 years ago.

“Before that game, Belichick inspired his players by relaying the victory parade route – of the Eagles. If Philadelphia has not been reduced to rubble, that parade will finally meander down Broad Street this week.”

As for owner Jeffrey Lurie and his hiring of Doug Pederson:

“Lurie knew Pederson not only as a brilliant offensive mind but as someone who taught Lurie’s son, Julian, how to throw a football, and who, from being pelted with batteries from impatient fans wishing McNabb to start as a rookie in 1999, had the requisite toughness to coach in Philadelphia.

“ ‘Wherever he was,’ Lurie said of Pederson last week, ‘he was always the most genuine person in the room.’

“Pederson also has a preternatural feel for optimizing his players. On Saturday night, he told his team that he had formulated an assertive game plan, with plenty of downfield throws and bold tactics.

“Teams tend to shrink against New England, especially when leading. The Eagles? No chance.”

Cody Benjamin / CBSSports.com

“Philadelphia knows about underdogs. There was Rocky, of course, who was an inspiration to the city but, still, purely fictional. There was Vince Papale, a nice walk-on story about going from the grandstands to the NFL field.

“On Sunday, Nick Foles outdid them all, leading the Eagles to their first championship since 1960 and their first Super Bowl title ever.

“A backup turned Super Bowl starter, Foles at one time put up the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history, and now he’s responsible for giving the city of Philadelphia its first Super Bowl win. With that accolade under his belt, it’s hard to imagine Sunday being his last game under center for the Philadelphia Eagles, but that could also be the case.

“The Eagles seemed destined for a long-awaited title run when their second-year phenom, Carson Wentz, took the team to nine straight wins and an 11-2 record before injuring his knee.And now here we are, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady dethroned by Foles.

“With the veteran backup becoming the first quarterback in Eagles history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, we’re still left with one burning question.

“What happens next?

“”First, it’s important to note that Wentz isn’t going anywhere. That’s absolutely the most sure thing about the situation.Listen, even with Foles actually lighting it up against the Patriots and bringing Philadelphia a title, he’s going to be adored by Eagles faithful forever, and rightfully so. His contributions look even better if you factor in his training-camp injury and that he really didn’t start fully practicing with the team’s starters until Week 15. But if you’ve already forgotten just how elite Wentz promised to be during his gigantic leap forward in 2017, well, the Eagles probably have not. If Foles can win a Super Bowl picking up where Wentz left off, in fact, who’s to say the Eagles won’t be doubly committed to their young signal-caller? Who’s to say their confidence won’t skyrocket knowing that, with Wentz healthy and returned to form, they might have a legitimate shot at chasing more Super Bowls?

“All of that is dependent on Wentz recovering from his torn ACL, but all indications are that he’s well on track for an Opening Day return in 2018. And as long as that’s the case, there is simply no way that Doug Pederson, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie will turn their back on the most dynamic franchise quarterback they’ve had since Donovan McNabb.”

But as for Foles, he’s under a two-year pact that will allow him to test free agency after 2018, though no doubt many teams will be inquiring as to Foles’ availability in a trade.

Meanwhile...Mark Cannizzaro / New York Post

“What’s probably most difficult for Brady to process is the fact that, for a change, he didn’t come through in the clutch.

“Put in his wheelhouse position in which he almost always prevails – a two-minute drill comeback situation – he was strip-sacked by Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham with 2:09 remaining in the game and lost the ball. Remarkably, with a combined 91 passes thrown by both Brady and Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, it was the only sack in the game.

“ ‘They made one good play at the right time,’ Brady said.”....

“ ‘I was looking for Tom after the game, but I didn’t get to see him because it got crazy real fast,’ said Foles, the game’s MVP.‘He’s one of the greatest of all time.The guy does it right. He was unbelievable tonight.’

“He was and he wasn’t, though. The statistics are slightly misleading.Brady missed receivers more often than he usually does in this game – despite the crazy video-game statistics he put up.”

Dan Graziano / ESPN.com

“Time was out, giving the players a rare chance to catch their breath in the middle of the most frantic Super Bowl of all time.Just 38 seconds remained in the first half, and the Philadelphia Eagles faced fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. They’ve all played for Doug Pederson long enough to know they were going for it, but as they guzzled their water bottles, rested their hands on their hips and looked left toward their sideline, they wondered just how cool a play Pederson might have in mindThey were not disappointed,.

“ ‘Philly Special’ was the call, and there were more than a few smiles in the huddle. The play calls for quarterback Nick Foles to move up to the line of scrimmage and basically act as if he’s checking his phone. It calls for a direct snap to running back Corey Clement, a pitch to tight end Trey Burton and a pass from Burton to Foles – assuming the New England Patriots had forgotten about Foles. Which they had, because who would think to cover him?

“Philly Special. A play that sounds as if it should come with cheese and...well...onions.

“ ‘You never know what he’s thinking,’ Burton said.‘Here we are.Philly’s never won a Super Bowl.We’re fourth-and-1 on the goal line and he calls a trick-play pass to the quarterback? Come on, man.’

“It worked, of course. Pretty much everything Pederson did Sunday night worked, which is pretty much why it’s no longer true that Philadelphia has never won a Super Bowl....

“ ‘I trust my players, I trust my coaches and I trust my instincts,’ Pederson said. ‘I trust everything I’m doing, and I want to maintain that aggressiveness. In games like this, against a great opponent, you have to make those tough decisions that way and keep yourself aggressive.’”

Philadelphia converted 10 of 16 third downs, and two of the other six on fourth down.[With 5:39 left in the game, Pederson went for it again on fourth-and-1 from his own 45-yard line and his team trailing for the first time all night. He had Foles throw to tight end Zach Ertz and he got 2 yards and the Eagles then controlled the ball for three more precious minutes between Foles hit Ertz for the go-ahead touchdown.[Then you had the strip-sack fumble by Brandon Graham.]

--Brady had a 115.4 passer rating and until Sunday, the Patriots had been 69-1 in starts when the rating was 115 or better, the lone loss at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Colts in Week 9 of 2005.[Neil Greenberg / Washington Post]

Yes, he had a postseason record 505 yards, but no sixth Lombardi Trophy.“Losing sucks,” Brady said afterwards.“You try to win and sometimes you lose. That’s the way it goes.”

As to whether he was returning for another season, in the immediate aftermath, Brady said: “I expect to be back. It’s 15 minutes after the game ended, so I would like to process this. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be back.”

Bill Belichick said: “In the end, we just couldn’t quite make enough plays, and that was all on me.”

“We weren’t able to perform at our best,” Belichick said. “Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job coaching, missed a lot of opportunities offensively in the first half, didn’t play good enough defense, didn’t play good enough in the kicking game.”

And Belichick’s trick play didn’t work when Tom Brady dropped a pass at the Eagles 28 from Danny Amendola. Then Doug Pederson’s worked.

--As for Belichick’s benching of cornerback Malcolm Butler, who only played on special teams Sunday, Belichick refused to get into specifics on Monday.

What he said on Sunday was that Butler’s benching wasn’t a disciplinary decision but rather a matter of putting the “players and game plan out there that we thought would be the best, like we always do.”

But Butler had played in 97.8 percent of the Patriots’ defensive snaps in the regular season, as reported by Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post.

And it does appear that Belichick was disciplining Butler in some form, as first noted by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, who described “a perfect storm” of issues including sickness and a minor rule violation.

NBC Sports Boston’s Mike Giardi reported that Butler violated his curfew at some point during the team’s stay in Minneapolis ahead of the game; Giardi, like Rapoport, calling the benching “multilayered” and saying it “was a culmination of a variety of things that have popped up with Malcolm over the course of this season and maybe even others in the past.”

Who knows what the reason was in the end, including perhaps that Belichick knew Butler would be leaving in free agency, but the Eagles feasted on his replacements, converting 6 of 7 third downs when targeting Eric Rowe and others.

Understandably, Patriots fans were not happy Monday.Belichick talks about putting the best players on the field and Butler was the best option, whether there was a discipline issue or not.

Fox’s Cris Carter said after that Belichick is “very, very dismissive to players, and it came back to haunt him.

“He thinks that no one is bigger than the team,” Carter said.“But in this case, the team as a whole suffered because of a decision that you made.”

For his part, Malcolm Butler responded Tuesday, saying he never missed curfew during Super Bowl week and that he never “participated [in] any of the ridiculous activities being reported,” including attending a Rick Ross concert.Butler said he’s heading into free agency.

--Rob Gronkowski said after the game he would not commit to playing again.‘I’ll sit down in the next couple of weeks and see where I’m at.”

No doubt that concussion he suffered on the head-to-head hit from Barry Church scared the heck out of him.I’ll say he doesn’t come back.He seems like the type who has taken care of his money responsibly. If so, why should he come back?[And to add insult to injury, his house was broken into.]

--If I’m a New England fan, I am waking up more and more pissed off that Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t on the roster...not that there was really any way to prevent his departure.But you know how Bill Belichick feels on this one.I’ll say both Belichick and Brady call it a career after next season.

--So then the stunner late Tuesday.Josh McDaniels, the Pats’ offensive coordinator who was set to become the new coach of the Indianapolis Colts, decided to stay in New England.

Gregg Doyel / USA TODAY

“Be embarrassed, Indianapolis Colts, but also be relieved. Josh McDaniels is a punk and a loser.

“He’s not your head coach, thank God.

“Imagine, knowing what we know right now, infecting this franchise with that fraud. And make no mistake. He’s one of the biggest frauds in the NFL.He confirmed it Tuesday night. After agreeing three weeks ago to terms with the Colts to become their next coach, after hiring multiple members of the coaching staff, after arranging to fly Wednesday morning from Boston to Indianapolis on Jim Irsay’s jet to be introduced at an afternoon news conference, Josh McDaniels backed out.

“McDaniels will stay with the New England Patriots as their offensive coordinator. Or maybe he knows something we don’t, and will be replacing Patriots boss Bill Beliichick....

“Imagine that. The ultimate daddy’s boy, born on third base and believing he hit a triple, thinks he’s too good to coach the Colts....

“He’s a guy who hasn’t accomplished anything as a head coach, unless you consider being fired in less than two seasons in Denver an achievement. Which, when you think about it.....

“The Colts just got punked by the biggest punk in the NFL coaching community; a guy so callous that he convinced a handful of assistant coaches elsewhere to leave wherever they were to come work for him in Indianapolis. Those assistants, including Dallas Cowboys assistant Matt Eberflus, now seem stuck.”

Reportedly, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, having been burned in the Jimmy Garoppolo deal, didn’t want to lose McDaniels and convinced him to back out; apparently to keep McDaniels in place for Belichick’s eventual departure.

Is Belichick retiring?Will he say next year is his last one? Then he’d give way to McDaniels.

--According to Nielsen, an audience of 103.4 million watched the Super Bowl, a 7% decline from last year.NBC put the total number at 106 million when streaming on digital platforms such as NFL.com, NFL Mobile, Yahoo Sports and NBC.com was added in.

This is the smallest audience since 2009 when 98.7 million watched SB XLIII on NBC (Pittsburgh-Arizona).

Interestingly, while the NFL can take zero solace in the fact the 7% decline was less than the regular-season drop of 10%, indeed the 7% is a sign of changing viewer habits...however, it’s interesting to note that there was only a 3% drop in big city markets measured by Nielsen, which tells you the NFL’s troubles are more significant in the country’s heartland, which is Trump territory (just stating a fact, friends...not making a political statement).

And at the same time, 103 million is still 103 million and by far the biggest audience of the year (as well as the tenth most watched TV broadcast in history) so there’s still a reason for some advertisers, though certainly not all, to shell out $5 million for a 30-second spot.

[111.9 million tuned in on CBS in 2016, 111.3 million on Fox last year.]

College Basketball

AP Poll (Feb. 5...records as of Feb. 4)

*This is as fascinating a late-season poll as I can ever remember.Can you imagine Saint Mary’s in a final four?

5 Xavier needed overtime to beat Butler (17-8, 7-5) 98-93 as Trevon Bluiett had 26 points, 6 of 9 from three, where he is shooting .436 for the season.Pretty darn good.

6 Cincinnati destroyed UCF (14-9, 5-6) 77-40.

NBA

--Tuesday goes down in Knicks history as one of the darkest days ever for the franchise as star Kristaps Porzingis tore his ACL and, the way these things go, he could be out until about next mid-season.Just a crushing blow that, given his fragility prior to this, calls into question what kind of player he’ll be when he returns.A sickening development for us fans hoping that maybe we are building the franchise the right way, despite this season’s struggles.

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“The roar was barely out of 19,812 mouths, a dot of delight in a darkening landscape.Kristaps Porzingis had just delivered a genuine poster-ization of Giannis Antetokounmpo, dunking over the Greek Freak. Man, did Madison Square Garden want to let loose there.

“And in an instant, in an eye blink: silence.

“Awful, grisly silence.

“ ‘It’s deflating,’ Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said, and that was before he knew of the awful diagnosis to come.‘Very deflating.’

“Porzingis was on the floor.He was pounding his fist when he wasn’t grabbing for his left knee.Earlier in the season, on the other end of the floor, Porzingis had nearly bent his ankle in half against the Heat, thrown a shivering scare into the Garden, missed a few games, admitted how scary it is to have your body betray you like that.

“This was different. This wasn’t the ankle. This was the knee, twisting in a way it wasn’t intended to twist....

“In that moment, the Garden felt the way Citi Field had felt on the afternoon of Aug. 24, when Michael Conforto had taken one of his textbook-beautiful lefty swings and wound up crumpling in agony, his shoulder capsule torn. Conforto had been the last reason to watch a lost Mets season; Porzingis was the only reason to watch these Knicks, especially as they crawl through another year clear of the playoffs.”

This is brutal.And now the team is keeping its fingers crossed that Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t reinjure his leg, having lost six weeks to a stress fracture in the same one earlier in the season.He too went out last night.

New York, 23-32, lost the game to Milwaukee (30-23) 103-89.

One more. Because of the probable timetable for Porzingis’ return, this means the team cannot realistically think about even next year’s playoffs. So it’s really planning for 2019-20!Ugh.

--Also in the NBA last night, Orlando stunned Cleveland 116-98, the Magic just 17-36, the Cavs falling to 30-22.

And in a biggie in Toronto, the Raptors (37-16) beat the Celtics (39-16) 111-91.

Stuff

--Big goings on in the Premier League. Chelsea is in turmoil after a 4-1 loss to Watford on Monday, the second straight defeat for the Blues as manager Antonio Conte is suddenly on the hot seat, Chelsea just one point ahead of Tottenham for the final Champions League slot with 12 matches to go.

And speaking of Tottenham, a lot of folks are decrying what they see as a pattern of cheating, best exemplified in Liverpool’s controversial draw with the Spurs over the weekend; Tottenham getting a number of calls when the referees were probably conned.

As John Aldridge writes in the Irish Independent: Tottenham “now have a reputation for being the biggest divers in the Premier League.”

--John Feinstein, writing in Golf World, noted that Rickie Fowler, who blew another 54-hole lead Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, lost for the fifth time in six tries when leading heading into the final round in a tour event.

Fowler still has just four PGA Tour victories, one being the Players Championship, and Feinstein believes it’s because he is simply too nice. And it’s true, there is no more likable guy than Fowler, and he’s been extremely successful off the course with advertisers.

But if he wants to be a Hall of Famer and win 15 events and a major or two, he needs to develop an edge, as Phil Mickelson did when he was a winner, but not a ‘major’ winner.

“Fowler is always the guy waiting behind the 18th green to congratulate his buddies after big wins. He was there for Jimmy Walker when he won the PGA at Baltusrol; he’s been there for Jordan Spieth at Birkdale and he (and Spieth) were there for Thomas at Quail Hollow. Fowler must be – should be – sick and tired of talking about how happy he is watching his friends walk off with major hardware.

“That’s not to say it isn’t great for golf that the 20-something stars genuinely get along and are a classy group.It’s worth remembering that Spieth, after missing the playoff by one shot at the Open at St. Andrews in 2015, came back to greet the three players going through the extra holes after he’d finished his post-round media visits.

“But there’s steel in Spieth, as he’s proved by winning three major championships and 11 times on tour before the age of 25. The same is true of Rory McIlroy, as kind a person as there is in the game, except when he smells a major victory.”

--William McGurn / Wall Street Journal...for you, Mark R.[ND alum]

“So it’s come to this: Leprechauns are hateful.

“Not just any leprechauns, mind you. This particular one – hat cocked, chin out, dukes up – happens to be the mascot for the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. The little, green-suited man is now in the same politically correct crosshairs that recently locked onto the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo. And ESPN’s Max Kellerman has called on Notre Dame to follow the Indians’ lead and send this leprechaun back to the end of the rainbow where he belongs.

“ ‘Many Irish-Americans are not offended, but many are,’ Mr. Kellerman said. ‘Should that also change? The answer is yes!Unequivocally yes. Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people that offend, even some among them, should be changed.’

“That’s some standard: The handful of offended trump the majority of unoffended.Notre Dame argues, correctly, that the leprechaun differs from Chief Wahoo and other Native American logos in a crucial way: The university is highlighting its own heritage rather than appropriating imagery from others.By embracing the Fighting Irish moniker, moreover, Notre Dame transformed an epithet into a source of pride. That’s why generations of Catholic immigrants struggling to find their place in America cheered every Notre Dame gridiron victory as their own.

“Old Chief Wahoo is perhaps America’s least woke sports mascot. In a deal struck under pressure from Major League Baseball, the Indians have now agreed the chief is too offensive to appear on the field.But he’s apparently not too offensive for the cash registers off the field, which will still ring with sales of Chief Wahoo merchandise.

“Often lost in this debate are two obvious points. First, mascots and logos are by definitioncaricatures, hence the exaggerations. Second, Native American names have been popular in sports because they are associated with a tough and martial spirit.In Cleveland’s case, Chief Wahoo has become as much a symbol of the city as of its ballclub. How many Clevelanders could identify their city flag?

“Even Jimmy Carter once recognized the silliness of these campaigns. During the 1991 World Series, Mr. Carter pushed back against criticism of the ‘tomahawk chop’ used by Braves fans.‘With the Braves on top, we have a brave, courageous and successful team, and I think we can look on the American Indians as brave, successful and attractive,’ the former president said. ‘So I don’t look on [the chop] as an insult.’

“Most Braves fans agreed, which speaks to another feature of modern cultural appropriation.Progressives often appropriate the indignation of communities to which they don’t in fact belong.Mr. Kellerman does not appear to be Irish. So to justify his call for a ban on leprechauns, he invoked the outrage of one Irish-American he happens to know, former ESPN colleague Brian Kenny....

“Perhaps this is what you do when the outrage isn’t really there. When the Washington Post polled Native Americans in 2016, it found 9 of 10 were not offended by the name of the city’s NFL franchise – the Redskins. The results did not vary much by age, income, education, politics or proximity to a reservation. And the results hadn’t changed much since a similar 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center....

“But in the case of Notre Dame, the more interesting question may be the one the ESPN analyst never asks.Each week on national TV, especially during football season, the Fighting Irish offer their own lesson in diversity.Instead of condemning a cartoon leprechaun, perhaps America ought to be applauding the healthy cultural appropriation that happens every time African-American, Asian-American and Latino athletes compete together wearing jerseys or helmets proudly proclaiming themselves ‘Irish.’”

--Last time we talked about Alex Trebek’s disgust at how the “Jeopardy” contestants couldn’t answer a single question on the topic of football.

Des Bieler of the Washington Post noted some of the other famous ‘sports’ category blunders on the show.

Like last September, a category called “NFL Teams by Hall of Famer” contained the clue, “Marcus Allen,” to which one contestant asked, “What is Colorado Rockies?”This was after no one rang in on “Mean Joe Greene.”

A 2014 contestant was given this clue in the “Sports Superstars” category: “100+ assists has been accomplished only 13 times in an NHL season, 11 times by this player.”He asked, “Who is Magic Johnson?”[The other two aside from Wayne Gretzky’s 11 are Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux, by the way.]

--We note the passing of British-born actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the sitcom “Frasier,” at the age of 77.

Mahoney had a distinguished career in Theatre, winning a Tony award, and a long list of TV and film credits, but he’ll always be remembered for his 11 seasons as Frasier and Niles Crane’s (Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce) blunt talking father.

From the BBC: “Mahoney was born in Blackpool, where his pregnant mother had been evacuated to escape Nazi bombing raids.

“He moved to the U.S. as a young man, serving in the U.S. army for three years, which he credits with eradicating his native British accent.”

He didn’t become a professional actor, though, until he was in his 40s.

--Trader George is lobbying hard for ‘Woodpecker’ on the All-Species List, noting their toughness.I just wonder about their intelligence after the study I noted last time.

Next week I am meeting with an expert down in Delaware as part of the ASL Board’s due diligence.

--I didn’t comment on Justin Timberlake’s performance last time, but if I had I wouldn’t have been complimentary.I like the guy a lot, mainly because he is a great ambassador for the sport of golf, but I know all of us watching had the same thought. God, the sound quality sucked! And despite all the dancing and myriad number of performers, it was just a lot of ‘nothing.’The whole time I kept thinking, Bruno Mars really should be the permanent halftime show.

Top 3 songs for the week of 2/8/64: #1 “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles)#2 “You Don’t Own Me” (Lesley Gore)#3 “Out Of Limits” (The Marketts)...and...#4 “Hey Little Cobra” (The Rip Chords...last swansong of groups like this) #5 “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um” (Major Lance...has held up well...) #6 “Surfin’ Bird” (The Trashmen...hasn’t....)#7 “She Loves You” (The Beatles)#8 “For You” (Ricky Nelson)#9 “Anyone Who Had A Heart” (Dionne Warwick)#10 “There! I’ve Said It Again” (Bobby Vinton...so it was the week of Jan. 25 that “I Want To Hold Your Hand” rocketed from No. 45 on the chart to No. 3... “There! I’ve Said It Again” was No. 1, and had been the prior three weeks as well.“I Want To Hold Your Hand” became No. 1 the next week as U.S. news networks, let alone radio, were starting to do stories on the Beatles and word got out they were playing Ed Sullivan Feb. 9.“I Want To Hold Your Hand” remained #1 until March 21, when it was replaced by “She Loves You”...that same week “Please Please Me” was #3...giving the Beatles the top three...the week of April 4, the Beatles held the top five spots on the chart!“Can’t Buy Me Love” was #1, “Twist And Shout” #2, followed by “She Loves You,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me”....staggering....)

College Hoops Quiz Answer: All-time rebounder in Division I since 1985 is Kenneth Faried of Morehead State. Since then he has been with the Denver Nuggets.Tim Duncan and Derrick Coleman are 2-3.But Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado entered the week No. 10 and he’ll be climbing up the rest of the way.

Mark R.’s Top 40...I gave him some liberties on one or two from the ‘80s.

1. Sitting on a Dock in the Bay...Otis Redding

2. I heard it Through the Grapevine...Marvin Gaye

3. American Pie...Don McLean

4. Sounds of Silence....Simon & Garfunkel

5. Brown Eyed Girl...Van Morrison

6. Cherish...Association [Has to do with M.R. and his wife, he tells me...but, hey, it’s a good song]

7. Yesterday...Beatles

8. Satisfaction...Rolling Stones

9. Respect...Aretha Franklin

10. Loving Feeling...Righteous Brothers

11. California Dreaming...Mamas & Papas

12. Fire & Rain...James Taylor

13. Piano Man...Billy Joel

14. In My life...Beatles

15. Bohemian Rhapsody...Queen

16. Smooth...Santana & Rob Thomas

17. Hard Headed Woman...Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam

18. In the Midnight Hour...Wilson Pickett

19.Build Me Up Buttercup...The Foundations

20 Light My Fire...Doors

21.Johnny B. Good...Chuck Berry

22.Hotel California...Eagles

23. Suspicious Minds...Elvis

24. Tambourine Man...The Byrds

25. Good Vibrations...Beach Boys

26. Maggie May...Rod Stewart

27.Reach Out...The Four Tops

28. Rock Around the Clock...Bill Haley & the Comets

29. Philadelphia Freedom...Elton John

30. Georgia...Ray Charles

31. Abraham Martin John...Dion

32. Operator...Jim Croce

33. You are the Sunshine... ...Stevie Wonder

34. Soul Man...Sam & Dave

35. Rhiannon...Fleetwood Mac

36. Billie Jean...Michael Jackson

37. How Deep is Your Love...Bee Gees

38. It's Too Late...Carol King

39. Can't Take My Eyes of You...Frankie Valli

40. Love Shack...B-52's ( Ask a DJ to play this at the next wedding, everyone gets up and dances)